Arch-support for shoes.



P. BROADBOOKS & L. E. SMITH.

ARCH SUPPORT FOR SHOES.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.2-2. 1914.

'glwuamto bs rnrnn BROADBOOKS AND LOUIS E. SMITH, or 'na'ravm, new roan Mamet.

To all'w hom it mdy concern Be it known that we, PETER BROADBOOKS and LOUIS E. SMITH, citizensof. the'United States, residin at Batavia, in the county of the shoe stands, so that the wearer of such shoe when standing will at all times have the arch or instep of his foot a supported in a substantial manner. I

Another je t of our invention is to provide an arch supporting attachment for shoes which may be readily attached to shoes already in use and which will not mar the appearance of the shoes. u

Thesupport or prop may be' made of metal, or rubber, or compositions, as maybe' desired, and is, very simple and will uphold the weight and withstandthe strain to which it is subjected in use.

The invention is capable of embodimentin various forms, some of which are shown in" the'accompanying drawings merely to illus-j trate the; invention, and not as showing all the variations in form of which the inven-' tion is susceptible, which will be readily appreciated when the invention is'understood.

We willf-explain the invention in detail i with reference to the accompanying draws sage. of rivets or other devices}.

in s, in which:

igure 1; is aside-view of a shoe showing one of'the arch supports attached thereunusual strain broughtupon them in ump-.

to. Fig. 2" is a plan view, ;and-Fi'g. 3 is-a sectional-viewer afsimple support embodyingthe invention? Fig. 4. is a plan view, and

Fig. 5- is a sectional view of-another formof such support.

- In theconstruction in Figsi-l 6 and 7, thesupportembodies a 'm'etallic prop 1 depending froin a top-plate 2, which plate is provided,with-perforations 2? for the'pase F by which it can be attached Ito'the.undersi v shank of the shoe intermediate theheel and ball. ortion thereof. Thisplajte naybe pro-' vide which we, [Tr e We. the ee a 'PPPQ e of the' with "rearwardlygextending lug 2P5 "ICE-SUPPORT." FOR SHOES.

v Snecifioationof Letters Patent. I I Patented Aug.- 31l, ll9ll5, Application filed August 22, 1914. Serial no. staoas. I I I part of the heel, as shown, to assist in at.- taching and positioning the support, The parts 1 and2 may be cast integral, or united n anysuitable way, as desired.- The prop 1 is of such length that when the wearer of the shoe stands uponv the ground this prop 1 rests upon the ground, or surface upon whlch the wearer is standing, and directly supports the arch thereupon intermediate the heel and ball of the shoe, as'is obvious from Fig. 1. As shown in Figs. 2, and 3, the support comprises a plate?) adapted tobeattached to the shoe shank and provided with openings 3 for the passage ,of-securing devices, and having lugs 3-"adapted. to engage the heel; and to this plate is attached a central depending prop portion 4" which may be formed integral with the plate 3. This support is to be attached to the shoe shank in the'location and with the same functionjand eiiect as the first described support.

v In the formshown in Figswl and '5, the

support comprises a plate 5 provided with perforations 5, by which it can. be secured .to the shankoftheshoe,'and having a central annular rib '5 to which is attached the upper end of a prop 6- which may be of rubber or other suitable material. This support is also attached to theshoe and used-in the same-manner as the supportfirst above described.

We have found by actual experience that thearch supports now in use do not give the desired results in holding up abroken 1nstep; while our invention, providing va rect bearing prop under center of arch, Wlll support the instep under any and all conditions, and being entirely outside the shoe may be readily attached to any shoe new or old. Broken arches are generally caused by ing, or by excessive weight bearing upon em. Our arch'su'pport will prevent the instep from breakingdown. We-provide resiliency or flexibility'ifdesired the use of rubber props g 0 A support placed either inside or outside along the curve of the arch of a shoe without. a prop. must necessarily have two bearing points, one bearing at each end, of such. supv a positive bearing directly under the center ofthe arch and will uphold the arch of the andthe most beneficial feature of our m vention is the positive central direct prop instep more surely than an inside support,

supporting a flat arch or broken arch in the foot of the wearer.

It will be seen'that each of the construc- ;..-easily applied to shoes; and the essential feature of the invention is a prop attached .to the shoe and positioned underneath the shank-and intermediate the heel and ball of the shoe.

What welclaim is:

-1. An arch support for shoescomprising 1 a plate attached to the shank and a rubber block attached to said for thearch on the surface upon which the shoe :standsL 2. An arch supporting plate for shoes having acylindrical recess formed therein, ';anda clrcular block secured in said recess andserving asa prop bearing upon said late in front of and separated from. the bee and forming a prop plate when pressure/of the instepis brought to bear upon it.

3. An arch supporting plate. for shoes and boots having a ferrule-integrally formed with said plate, and a circular block of nonmetallic material secured within the ferrule.

4. A11 arch support for shoes, a ferrule formed with a flange secured to-the lower surface of the instep of the shoe, and a block rigid y held within said ferrule forming a prop bearing directly from the center of the shank of the shoe to the surface upon which the shoe stands.

5. An arch supporting plate for shoes comprising athimble integrally formed with said plate, and a circular block of-rubber' secured within the thimble and serving as a prop upholding the arch and adapted to contact the surface upon which the shoe rests. v

In testimony that weclaim the foregoing as our own, we aflix'our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

PETER BROADBOOKS. LOUIS E. SMITH. Witnesses:

JOHN C. PRATT, EDWARD A. FRIEDLEY. 

